The Importance of Education

Education. What does it mean to you? What does it mean to our governments? But most importantly what does it mean to our children?

Through education ignorance is replaced with knowledge, capacities are built and it's a process of continuous change.. Children are natural learners and between birth and five years children grow and learn at the fastest rate of their lifetime. Armed with this knowledge we can see how important children's education really is and the care which must be taken In ensuring it is The importance of education should never be underestimated nor the people with the responsibility of educating. Young people from the age of around 4 in most countries began their slow journeys through the education system. Quite possibly these vital primary years set the foundations on which the children will build themselves over time showing the noteworthiness of these first few years.

Gradually the 5 year old grows with the education system, learning various sciences, arts and let us not forget the building of a person which is all too often forgotten. Even from the age of 5 there is a constant focus on relative excellence, conformity and the narrow scope of material development. Putting this into perspective, immediately children are encouraged to compete with each other, sporting achievements and grades being but a few examples. Notwithstanding, it may not seem obvious, seemingly small activities can have large affects on the way in which that child develops as a result, such as comparisons between students. It affects the way in which competition plays one of the major roles in society today in every walk of life.

As the child progresses the sense of competition heightens fiercely, entry to college, a measure of success being to aim to surpass others and significantly a lack of collective advancement. Entry to college becomes a very difficult point for many young people all over the world and they face huge pressure as the height of competition is introduced. Students are at a stage where everything they do is to contribute to being superior to other students, whether it be in sport, grades or even charitable activities their aim becomes to compete and surpass fellow classmates. Moreover the idea of surpassing others can be seen in the way students are encouraged to participate in sporting activities and the only point at which they are content is not in the action of participation but in the result and the factor of achievement. Another factor which can be seen in so many areas of society to be a problem because the achievement evolves into material wealth causing other issues.

Largely the education in our schools today signify civilization and development in material terms meaning through the arts, handicrafts,sciences and literature which is a vital aspect of education. One aspect that is not included which is arguably more important than the material proportion of education is the instillation of spiritual teachings from a young age. That is to say building the capacities to become an active member of a service orientated society. This is a fundamental gap in education today and one which needs to be filled because without a stable foundation the child cannot develop. By spiritual teachings is meant possession of virtues such as generosity, kindness and truthfulness which although sound simple are completely the opposite to the way in which modern society has been formed. How can a child be educated without remembering to develop a moral code whereby the child can live and be of service to mankind?

Another major faculty education should encourage is the ability to question and the ability to think for oneself which seems to have been lost or possibly never has been laid down as a foundation in the past. Without the ability to reason for oneself, every action taken will not be as a result of their own volition after calculated thought but mere replication of others. It is vital for children to learn to think and unfortunately it is not valued and certainly not implemented into any systems I have come across. Today’s education for me is a tool to encourage conformity and similarity not for people to stand out but to accept this sad fact. Never is individuality emphasized, seldom are independent gifts able to shine and something certainly needs to change if society is to move forward.

Education or rather true education is somewhat a mystery to man at this moment in time.